Congregation

After Cole Overstreet sang "Jesus Is The Center of My Joy," it was clear the 10-year-old boy had become the center of the joy for the more than 200 people listening to him Monday afternoon at Danville's First Baptist Church, Second and Walnut streets. Wearing a poker face and showing little emotion as he sang a powerful rendition of the old gospel hymn, Cole brought smiles to the faces of the congregation and generated plenty of emotion. At the end of the Bate Middle School student's solo, the crowd leapt to its feet - that is, those who had not already stood up during the performance - and gave him a standing ovation.

First Baptist Church, 349 W. Broadway, Harrodsburg, has been around since 1840, according to a church history compiled when the church celebrated its 125th anniversary. The church was first named African Baptist Church after it was organized by the white Baptists in the South District. The new congregation worshipped in a small brick building on the site where the current church stands. The Rev. Charles Clark, one of the first to lead the church, was pastor of the church when the name was changed to Centennial Baptist Church.

Rummage sale Trinity Episcopal Church - 9 a.m.-3 p.m. April 28 in the parish hall, 320 W. Main St., Danville. Sale includes household items, infant clothing, jewelry, toys, books, furniture and collectibles. Speakers Harrodsburg Baptist Church - 11 a.m. Sunday, Bobby Perry of the University of Kentucky basketball team will speak. Harrodsburg Baptist Church - April 29, Baptist Women's Day. Debbie Houston is the featured speaker. She is a member of Crestwood Baptist Church and a former teacher at the Chance School in Louisville.

Rev. Fred Harris and congregation of the Bethel AME Church, Boneyville will be the afternoon guests at the Jacob's Chapel AME Church, Turnersville June 22 on behalf of it's annual homecoming and basket dinner. Rev. Cecil Napier is the pastor. Rev. Stuart Peoples and congregation of the Broadway Baptist Church, Lexington, will be the guests at the Pleasant Valley Church, Boones Creek, June 22 at 3 p.m. on behalf of "Women's Day. " Elder Joseph Shea Brown is the pastor. Vacation Bible School will be held at the Bethel AME Church, Boneyville June 23-27 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. each day. Rev. Fred Harris is the pastor.

The Simpson/Hayes family reunion will be held Saturday, Sept. 1 at the Boyle County Fairgrounds in Danville at noon. All relatives are invited to attend. For more information contact, Mrs. Sara Givens at 365-2479. There will be an Appreciation Service for Rev. Dana Dawkins on Sunday, Sept. 2 at the Boneyville Bethel AME Church at 3 p.m. Elder Robert Coulter, Jr., and congregation of the Boneyville Baptist Church will be the guests. Dinner will be served. The Newcomb family reunion will be held at the L & N Depot on Sunday, Sept.

Dear Editor: The observance of Mother's Day began 98 years ago with one woman remembering with great appreciation her mother who had died two years earlier. In 1907, Miss Anna Jarvis went to the pastor of Andrews Methodist Church in Grafton, W.Va., and requested that the church hold a memorial service for her mother, Mrs. Anna Reeves Jarvis, and all mothers who had worked faithfully with her in that congregation "to build principles of righteousness into the fabric of the community.

For the congregation at Trinity Church of God, collecting money for Relay for Life has been a hair-razing experience. Several months ago, church elder Mike Wilson, who had a thick white thatch, got up in church and offered to have himself sheared if the members raised $2,000 for the walk tonight to benefit the American Cancer Society. The congregation raised the money by having things “like cornhole tosses, bake sales and yard sales,” said Michelle Holloman, a member of the church.